CERIAS: News

Computer Researcher Named Distinguished Fellow of Information Security Group

2009-11-19T19:27:47+00:00

Eugene H. Spafford has been named as a Distinguished Fellow of the ISSA.

Eugene H. Spafford, a professor at Purdue University and Executive Director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS), has been named as a Distinguished Fellow of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), the association’s highest tribute, for his leadership in foundational research in security technology, his leading role in development of influential educational programs, and his long-time advocacy and public service in information security. This follows on his earlier selection to the ISSA Hall of Fame in 2001.

Spafford is widely regarded for his ongoing efforts in cybersecurity and privacy issues. In particular, he has been recognized for his pioneering research in cyberforensics, intrusion detection, network security and firewall design, and integrity management issues, among other items. In 1998 he was the founder of CERIAS at Purdue, and helped establish the first interdisciplinary graduate degree in information security. He has also service in senior advisory roles in various professional organization and government agencies, including as chair of ACM’s US Public Policy Council (USACM), and service on the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) from 2003-2005.

Over the last few decades, Spafford has been recognized with other professional distinctions, including the National Computer System Security Award in 2000, the IEEE Taylor L. Booth Award in 2004, the ACM President’s Award in 2007, and the CRA Distinguished Service Award in 2008. He has also received all three of Purdue’s major awards for excellence in teaching and education. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, the ACM, the IEEE and the (ISC)^2.

ISSA is an international association of information security practitioners who work to protect privacy, data and systems for businesses, government, education, health care and law enforcement.

ISSA’s Web site is http://www.issa.org. For more information about CERIAS, visit http://www.cerias.purdue.edu. More information on Professor Spafford is at http://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/narrate.html.

Spafford Interviewed on IA/IS Education Issues by GovInfoSecurity.com

2009-10-20T18:14:28+00:00

Information assurance is a topic atop many agendas these days, starting with the president’s own cybersecurity initiative. But what is the state of information assurance education?

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Spafford Comments on Gary McKinnon Case

2009-09-25T17:46:38+00:00

Professor Eugene Spafford, founder of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security at Indiana’s Purdue University, said the victim of a cybercrime should not take the blame. If someone broke a door to rob a store, he said, it was usual to charge them the cost of the door.

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CERIAS Prof Finds Confidential Information on State-Auctioned Computers

2009-09-25T17:44:52+00:00

Rogers found the lottery hard drives contain a list of lottery players, along with their home addresses, email addresses and birthdates; personal emails to and from lottery employees including lewd jokes and information about workers’ children; agency databases, contact lists and contracts; serial numbers and other information about lottery scratch-off and pull tab ticket machines placed in retail stores around the state; and employee usernames and passwords used to log on to state computers.

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NSF awards $105m for Earthquake Engineering Center Ops HQ

2009-09-15T15:07:34+00:00

CERIAS faculty member Prof. Saurabh Bagchi to be responsible for cybersecurity

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $105 million to a Purdue-led team to spearhead a center that will serve as headquarters for the operations of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation, or NEES. The grant spans five years and is the largest in the university’s history. Julio Ramirez, Professor of Civil Engineering, will serve as the Director of the center and Rudi Eigenmann, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering will serve as the leader of the Information Technology (IT) thrust. Professor Saurabh Bagchi, Associate Professor of ECE and an active CERIAS faculty member, will be responsible for the cybersecurity of NEES hardware and software assets at the headquarters and at the 14 NEES sites around the country. The project will recruit a cybersecurity professional to work with Professor Bagchi.

Spafford Receives CRA Service Award

2009-05-08T20:12:55+00:00

Professor Eugene Spafford has been awarded the 2009 Computing Research Association (CRA) Distinguished Service Award.

This award is presented to an individual who has shown outstanding service to the computing research community. Spafford’ s selection is attributed to his role as a “tireless advocate for the cause of information security research.” The award will be presented on June 27 at the ACM Awards Banquet in San Diego.

Spafford’s current research interests are focused on issues of computer and network security, cybercrime and ethics, and the social impact of computing. He is the founder and executive director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS). This university- wide institute addresses the broader issues of information security and information assurance, and draws on expertise and research across all of the academic disciplines at Purdue.

Spafford was recently awarded the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Abacus Award and selected by the U.S. Secretary of Defense to serve on the U.S. Air Force Air University Board of Visitors.

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CERIAS Students Honored by CETA

2009-05-08T17:44:26+00:00

The Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistants (CETA) honored graduate student teachers campus wide on Thursday, April 23.

During this celebration, CETA recognized Nwokedi Idika and Mohamed Fouad. Idika was a Graduate Student Honoree at the event, and Fouad received his Advanced Graduate Teacher Certificate.

Idika is a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Bharat Bhargava. His research covers attack graphs, security metrics, and collaborative attacks.

Fouad is a PhD student, and his work focuses on data privacy, risk management, anonymity, social networks, and data utility. His research advisor is Prof. Elisa Bertino.

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Purdue class treats hard drive as crime scene

2009-05-08T15:07:44+00:00

Purdue University is schooling law enforcement officers from around the state this week in digital forensics — a sort of crime scene investigation for computers, according to Marc Rogers, a professor of computer and information technology and director of Purdue’s cyber forensics program.

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Educators see secure coding training challenges, improvements

2009-01-27T18:07:00+00:00

Secure coding training courses often take a back seat to other material that competes for inclusion in the curriculum, said Pascal Meunier, a visiting assistant professor at Purdue University’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) program. Meunier said more security experts need to become teachers and join in the effort in creating and maintaining course material.

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Upsilon Pi Epsilon to Present Abacus Award to Eugene Spafford at the UPE Annual Convention

2008-12-09T14:43:00+00:00

The International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines will present its most prestigious award to Dr. Spafford

Upsilon Pi Epsilon’s most prestigious award is the ABACUS Award, presented to an individual who has gained international renown in the profession, and over a period of several years has provided extensive support and leadership for student-related activities in the computing and information disciplines. UPE is pleased to announce that the 2009 Abacus Award will be presented to Dr. Eugene Spafford, Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University.

Dr. Spafford is renowned for his accomplishments as a senior advisor and consultant on issues of security and intelligence, education, cybercrime and computing policy to major companies, law enforcement organizations, academic and government agencies, and two Presidents of the United States. With nearly three decades of experience as a researcher and instructor, Professor Spafford has worked in software engineering, reliable distributed computing, host and network security, digital forensics, computing policy, and computing curriculum design. He is responsible for a number of “firsts” in several of these areas. He is currently on the advisory and editorial boards of numerous prestigious journals and has published over 100 papers and reports on his research.

He is a Fellow of the ACM, AAAS, IEEE and is a charter member of the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core. Among his many honors and awards are the ACM President’s Award in 2007, the 2005 IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award, the U.S. Air Force medal for “Meritorious Civilian Service,” and election to Upsilon Pi Epsilon!

More details about Prof. Spafford’s illustrious career may be found on his website.

The Abacus Award will be formally presented to Dr. Spafford at the 2009 Annual Convention of UPE. The 2009 UPE Annual Convention will be held on Friday, March 6, 2009 in conjunction with the ACM SIGCSE Annual Conference. Convention agenda will include a roll call of chapters, presentation from chapter representatives, announcement of UPE awards, and a special keynote speaker. Dr. Spafford will receive a UPE plaque, a $2,000 cash award and a specially inscribed abacus. He will also serve as the keynote speaker for the UPE Convention.

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